My RHD JHM Stage 1+ S/Charger Install !!!

B6/7 S4/RS4
#1

Ok, so as the title states this will be my attempt to upgrade my existing RHD RS4 JHM Stage 1 Supercharger to their long awaited Stage 1+ offering.

Link to my Stage 1 install for anyone that haven’t seen it and might care to look…http://audirevolution.net/forum/index.php?topic=4230.0

Perhaps something I neglect to add to subject line of my Stage 1 install was the fact that it was a RHD install which required some additional work especially as far as the air conditioner is concerned.

Make no mistake, the Stage 1 is a huge improvement over stock and definitely delivers on the HP figures JHM claims. It takes that sweet high revving 8-10 year old V8 engine and bumps the HP & Torque figures to modern day territory and I guess the 1+ will add more of the same and some. So, if the Stage 1 make such a big difference then why bother with Stage 1+??

Well here is my take on it, its simple, I am not normal, normal people won’t fit a S/C to their RS4 to begin with, they don’t go to bed at night thinking about the beast in the garage, solve problems in their mind in front of the TV, jump up out of bed in the middle of the night to make a quick note or drawing of something that came to mind, and the list goes on and on and on, I don’t have to list them all, the abnormal people reading this will know exactly what I am talking about.

So, to get back to the question about why? Well, because I have to, it will kill me thinking about it for years to come and to have the conversation that normal people have namely, I wonder what could/would have happened if I did “THAT” back then, sigh! So, onto the Stage 1+ I go because I have to and I can’t wait. ;D

Herewith just a few picks of what to expect when the parcel arrive.

Size of Box

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When you open the Box

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Contents

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If there is anything specific that someone wants to see let me know I have pic’s of most of the individual parts.

First thing to do was to remove the bumper and the lights etc. and I decided to attempt the install without removing the front lock carrier & cradle. My thought was to just put the lock carrier in the service position and save myself the trouble of removing all the hoses and drain all the fluids etc. So that’s what I did and will see how it turns out.

Lock Carrier in Service Position

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First problem was how to support the cradle in the service position without the correct special VAG tools. It came to me during one those abnormal sessions in front of the TV ;D and the solution was quite simple. Just used the 2 x Bolts from the bumper support, 2 x copper pipe pieces to fit, used some masking tape to take up the slack between the pipe and bolts, and bolted that to the 2 x provided holes and slid the cradle into the service position, so far so good.

Carrier Lock Tool

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The gap should hopefully be be enough to allow me to do the extra required trimming and get the V-belt replaced with the new one supplied with the kit to accommodate the smaller pulley.

GAP

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#2

oh wow…this will be tough. Just be patient and let us know if we can help in any way.

#3

Thank you, that’s no lie, it’s definitely not going to be easy, see next update!

#4

Removing the S/charger, hoses etc. went quick, straight forward and having done the Stage 1 install is a huge plus, everything make sense, been there done that so no surprises.

Knowing to well that being RHD the AC lines will pose another challenge I decided to pull the 2nd ECU put the JHM supplied battery tray for the water tank in place and get a feel for what lies ahead. As anticipated, ran into problems straight off the bat!

Long story short, the battery tray that JHM supplies is LHD, initially this never crosses my mind as potentially being a problem. I only came to realize this when I tried to get the tray installed and it just couldn’t get it to fit without hacking it. Then suddenly realize, dammit, must be a different tray for RHD cars so I popped into my dealer and ask them to pull up the tray for RHD and hallelujah, saw the difference straight away, ordered one and collected the next day.

So Jake, if you read this, please make note if you ever sell to another RHD customer, get them the correct part or perhaps pass them a credit and let them just order form their local dealer, not sure whether you can get this in the US. See part number below.

ECU Removed

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LHD Tray Fitted, just look Wrong!!!

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LHD vs RHD

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RHD Tray Part Nr

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RHD Tray fitted, so much better!!

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Below pic as suspected, those AC pipes running on the bottom are sitting on top of the ledge where the tank is suppose to sit in order to be clamped down onto the tray… :’( :’( :’( :’(

Ac Pipes

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So decided to crack on with the trimming, got the old grinder out and started cutting, man just hate this part… :o :o With the cradle in place I made sure I took my time and made sure I didn’t cut into any loose pipes or cables. Tried the charger with the new inlet housing for size and everything looked good, man I am glad that’s out of the way.

Trimming Done

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So far so good will get the painting done and post more tomorrow.

#5

Anything you notice that is different from LHD/RHD please let me know and we will do what we can for you.

#6

Thanks Jake, will do, much appreciated!

#7

With the trimming out of the way and the new intake piece seemingly having the space it needed it was time to put some paint back on the exposed areas.

Front View

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Top

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Considering the PITA the AC lines and Water Tank install was going to be I decided to crack on with getting the charger back on, install the new pulley and see whether I could manage to fit the new belt with the cradle in service position.

So here are the 2 pulleys next to each other. The smaller one obviously the one that is supplied with the 1+

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Getting the old pulley of was a breeze, getting the new one on was an unexpected PITA, the thickness of the black paint/powder coating or whatever was just enough to prevent the pulley from sliding back on. So took me about an hour to sand that down to a level where it would fit onto the pulley.

The belt itself, went smoother than expected, the only real challenge was slipping it over the small bottom pulley attached to the charger bracket.

Charger with new Pulley and Belt fitted

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Next up was getting a feel for how the cooler will sit in its designated area so first up was to measure cut and installed the rubber damping strip for the cooler to rest on.

Cooler Cushion Strip

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#8

Forgot to show exactly why one need to do the extra trimming/clearing on the car at the intake side of the charger when installing the Stage 1+ kit. They basically re-designed the intake section of the charger and replaced the old intake pipe with this. Very neat piece and the fit and finish is excellent. Attached to the charger via a T-Clamp so once tightened down it’s going nowhere.

New Inlet Piece

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With the rubber cushion strip in place I could position the Cooler in place and get a feel for fit and position. Also fitted the boost and the 2 smaller hoses for the bottom diverter.

Charge Cooler in Place

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With the fit about correct as far as I can tell I went ahead and installed the rest of the hoses and fit the bottom diverter valve as well. Some of those hoses are a real PITA to get seated properly and once installed you literally have no space left to get you hands onto some of the hoses which means if they need any adjustment chances are you have to remove most again to get to the one needing adjustment. >:( >:(

Before you tighten all the clamps in place make sure you have the vacuum hose attached to that bottom diverter. You also want to make sure the vacuum hose is not kink and have a open passage. If it sits to low it is going to bottom out against the body of the car which will put a kink in the hose and I am not sure whether that could be a problem or not but I made sure mine had enough clearance for the vacuum hose. There are 2 x Diverters to be installed and I just label them Bottom and Top due to their respective positions in the engine bay.

Bottom Diverter (Top View)

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Bottom Diverter (Bottom View)

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Below just some random pics’ of the cooler and hoses attached

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With all of that in place I noticed that I might have trimmed a bit too much of the boost hose between the charger and the cooler. (See Pic below) One have to re-use the old boost hose from the Stage 1 kit and in hindsight I should have done the final trimming on that hose once everything else was in place. I did the boost hose first and once you start fitting all the other hoses things do move around a bit, they all freakin work against each other, some push, other pull and the rest is just plain spiteful ;D So I picked up a new 90 Degree 4 Ply boost hose which I fitted today and will get some pic’s of that loaded as well.

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I also got the modified AC hose back today and manage to fit that in order to take a final measurement before the shop crimp the last fitting on for me. Looks promising except for one end which we have to go back to the drawing board for as it need some extra work. :frowning: :frowning:
Will get cracking with that tomorrow and see whether we can put that problem to bed.

#9

WOW thanks for the thread and thanks for all of the great detail. It looks like just about every inch of that bay is getting used to help support that new cooler charge.

Great work as always. Please keep it coming.

#10

Looks like you’re doing well Rudi!

Totally agree about the anodizing on the new pulley being too thick.

Also i think it would help if the 90 degree boost hose was included with the new parts as trimming the old one is hit and miss. Its super tight in there!

Im doing the same and buying a new hose as the old one ended up too kinked. Otherwise apart from my clutch issues she runs well(havent driven it yet due to the clutch problems). Im hoping a new slave cylinder and hose will solve my problem, if not then ill have to drop the box to inspect the clutch.

#11

Been a while since my last update so let me add the latest progress. Not much, but at least I got the AC pipe situation for the RHD sorted out, or so I hope, time will tell. This was a daily back and forth between my garage and the AC shop for at least 2 weeks. My initial idea turned out to be just the start of my quest to get this pipe sorted, total PITA >:(

Could have been worst, at least this time around, I didn’t had to pull the Brake Master cylinder and Booster as was the case with the Stage install. Cut that sucker in place with a small pipe cutter and manage to pull the section going under the master cylinder out with a but of a wiggle. Putting it back, well that was another mission given the threaded Nut that was welded on.

Anyway onto some Pic’s

First Attempt @ AC Pipe. Was just wrong, sitting to high and the S-bend,she was not working to well, causing the whole pipe to lift when threaded onto the male section.

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Water Reservoir wouldn’t sit down properly and the S-bend was also going to obstruct the fitting for the outlet hose.

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So, after many days of cursing, measuring, cutting, fiddling, more cursing and trips to the AC shop, I ended up with this which fits perfectly.

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When I placed the tank in place to check clearance and fitting during the AC pipe escapade, I notice that the “tab” at the base of the tank didn’t line up with the clamp that latches onto it to secure it when tighten down. So had that moved to a different spot to line up with the clamp. This problem was as a result of the direction I opted to fit the tank. It faces the same way as the LHD cars and should have been the other way around given its a RHD. But, the position of the Master cylinder and booster and a bunch of pipes that runs on the driver side of the RHD made me go with the same direction as the LHD. That meant that I didn’t had to strip and redo the wire loom for the 2nd ECU as that sits no perfectly in-line with where it needs to go on the water tank. But, I am sure I will cover that again later in the build when I get to installing all the hoses.

Here is the tab in its new position

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With the AC pipe issue’s hopefully permanently solved I turned my attention to the mounting of the heat exhanger. Personally I am not a fan of the way it gets mounted / attached to the front of the AC heat exhanger. Just a personal thing, not knocking the original method but it just was not something I wanted to do. Did a mock-up of the brackets on cardboard and got that off to the metal shop to have it laser cut and bend.

Here it is back from the shop. Still requiring a bit of welding for the bottom mount on the main bracket and drilling of the holes.

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Bracket’s completed and test fitted with bumper support in place to check clearance. The Bumper support also accommodates the smaller bottom bracket for the opposite side of the heat exhanger.

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Small bracket is visible here. Pic taken from above

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And here are the finished brackets back from powder coating.

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Whilst waiting on some parts I decided to do something about that relay wire loom that hooks up to the new water pump. Again, will work fine as is, just something I wanted to do and look so much better and more OEM like. Will finish the Red wire when I install and connect the far end to positive battery terminal.

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That’s it for the time being. Its going to be about 2 weeks before I can start installing the hoses and put everything back on the car. Most of the kinks have been worked out but as mentioned earlier the hoses are going to be a challenge due to the location of the Brake Master Cylinder and Booster, but will double cross that bridge when I get to it in around 2 weeks time though.

#12

Man hats off for you, I couldn’t do that!

#13

Thanks Denis, really not that hard, sure you can :wink:

#14

Seeing that I can’t use the “Edit” feature yet due to post count, just a correction on the wrong use of words above. I made reference to the “Bumper Support” for mounting the custom made bracket for the heat exhanger, should have been “Crash Bar” :-[

#15

You continue to impress with great skill and workmanship.

Thanks for keeping the updates coming. looking forward to more

#16

Wow, been a while since I last posted any updates but work and other circumstances have kept me busy and away from the car. Frustrating to say the least but I managed to get a few things done.

First up was to move the cradle from the service into normal position and torqued it down. Next up were the brackets I received back from powder-coating, could finally permanently fit the main bracket, attached the heat exchanger and fit the smaller support bracket to the crash bar, relocate the fan control module, attach the new water pump and get that all mounted on the car.

Heat Exchanger Fitted

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Crash Bar with Fan Control Module, Heat Exchanger Bottom Bracket and Water Pump

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Crash Bar Fitted

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Next up was the relocation of the Positive Battery terminals. Again, with the RHD there just wasn’t space to fit the supplied JHM fitting on the front bulkhead as per the instructions. I have brake fluid and vacuum lines running against the bulkhead and I also needed the little space that were available for the still to be fitted water hoses. As can be seen on this pic, ain’t gonna work!

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In the end I came up with this solution which really was my only option. Actually worked well and also allowed me to tuck the cables away and out of the way.

Side & Front view

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Next, the new relay and wire loom all fitted and hooked up. The “Live” wire that is suppose to run up to the positive battery terminal is also complete but just didn’t had the time to route and connect yet.

Relay & Wire Loom

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Water Pump hooked up

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That’s it for now. I have done some other prep work and have figured out most of the routes for the water hoses but just haven’t had time to start fitting it. Will cover more of that in my next post which hopefully should happen over the coming weekend. The “To Do” list is getting shorter and if the hoses goes according to plan the major things still to do is pull and upgrade the HPFP’s and then flash the new tune. Hope there are no more curve balls coming my way and can’t wait to have the car back up and running.

#17

In my last update I mentioned that next on my list was the installation of the water reservoir, fittings and all the hoses. Did quite a bit of planning and prep work during the week so today it was just a matter of getting everything installed and hooked up. Easier said than done. >:(
There is just no space to play with, everything is as tight as hell and the key is to plan, plan, plan again then measure 10 times and cut ones. Oh, and did I mentioned PATIENCE,and lost of it >:( >:( >:( >:

There are a bunch of hoses to install and it can get messy quite quickly if you are not careful. I wanted to cut as little as possible of the body work and hide as much as possible of the hoses once everything is back together and that made things a bit more difficult. Due to the car being RHD I also had to come up with a new way to route some of the hoses as the JHM instructions and photos are purely for a LHD car.

With that challenge ahead of me I got cracking and installed all the barb hose fittings and mounted the water reservoir permanetly. With that out of the way I hooked up all the Hoses and,well I guess it’s easier to look at the pictures so here goes.

Tank Installed and hoses hooked up

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Decided to install the hose that went the opposite way compared to the JHM LHD install, that being the feeder hose from the base of the reservoir to the inlet port of the water pump. Had me scratch my head a little but in the end decided to go through the bulkhead as suppose to cutting it away as per the JHM method. Came out quite nice and overall I am happy with the option and direction I went. Gave me the look I was aiming for with just about nothing of the hose visible once all the trim and covers are back on.

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And hooked up to the Water Pump

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Quick test fit of the ABS cover to check for clearance and covering of the hose, looking good !!!

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With that done it was time for the hose running the normal direction from the inter-cooler to the reservoir. Again I opted to go through the bulkhead and also decided to go for better qaulity hoses and fittings seeing that the inter-cooler and fittings will be the only visible piece of the system when the hood is open.

Inter-cooler with new fittings attached.

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This took some doing to snake that hose over the master cylinder, then underneath the AC pipes…

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…and out the other end to the new 90 Deg fitting.

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90 Deg fitting through bulkhead.

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Braided Nylon Hose between 90 Deg and inter-cooler swivel hose end fitted.

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Hoses attached to those AN fittings, stressful job, boy do they mark up easily!! And there’s no gentle way to fit that hose on, it needs quite a bit of force to get the fitting screwed on :o

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Fitted the headlight to check the hose clearance and tried to keep the route to the water pump as short as possible and kink free as this will be the hose transporting the cooled water to the inter-cooler.

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Clearance all good and hooked up to the outlet port on the heat exchanger.

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Glad that’s finally done, will give every connection and fitting a final check to ensure all is tight before filling and bleeding the reservoir.

All that’s left is to upgrade the 2 HPFP’s, will get that done tomorrow and then flash the new tune. I am also fitting two new lenses to the headlights so will do it whilst the bumper is off. If all goes according to plan I should be able to have the car ready for a test drive during the week or latest next weekend. That’s if I don’t run into any unforeseen problems so holding thumbs that I have covered all the bases.

Time to sit back, admire my hand work and have a few cold ones… ;D

#18

Man, looks great!!! Enjoy those well deserved cold ones!

#19

Thank you sir, much appreciated!!

#20

Had a bit of time on my hands this afternoon so decided to pull the 2 x HPFP’s and get those upgraded bits that came with the Stage 1+ installed. Straight forward job and seems more daunting than what it really is. Main thing is to keep the parts and pump internals clean and if you following the JHM video it’s a walk in the park.

Pumps removed

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New bits installed, everything put back together and ready to go back on the car. Replaced OEM parts in the background. Getting it back on the car is a 10 minute job, super easy. Main things is the make sure you don’t pinch one of the O’ rings when sliding back into position.

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With this completed the install is really done and dusted. The only things left to do is to add coolant to the water reservoir, fire the water pump up, bleed the system, check for leaks and last but not least get the new tune loaded and fire her up ;D